Airfare Expert: Save big by shopping for one passenger at a time

Apr. 2, 2013
|

Airline reservation systems require identical prices for all tickets on a single reservation. Even if there are a few seats at lower price points available to members in the group transaction, the price-per-seat will skew to the most expensive in the group unless you break the transaction into small segments, thereby locking in the lowest seat prices. / Digital Vision., Getty Images

by Rick Seaney, special for USA TODAY

by Rick Seaney, special for USA TODAY

If you're planning a trip with family or a group of friends - even if there are just two of you - here's a simple shopping tip that could save money:

If you need more than one ticket, shop for airfare one passenger at a time.

Two-step shopping method

Say you and four others are planning a trip together. How to purchase those 5 tickets:

Step 1: When the airfare shopping site asks for the number of passengers, go ahead and enter "5". See what price you're quoted per ticket. But don't purchase yet!

Step 2: Start over and enter the number of passengers as "1." If you're quoted the same price as in Step 1, you can go back and buy all 5 tickets in the same transaction. But sometimes you'll be quoted a lower price when you request less than your total party. If that's the case, keep adding passengers until you see the price jump to the figure you were quoted in Step 1. When that happens, you can split your ticket purchase into two transactions â?? one at the lower rate and one at the higher.

Why the different prices for single and multiple tickets?

The reason for this fare discrepancy has to do with a quirk in airline reservation systems that requires identical prices for all tickets on a single reservation or transaction â?? even if there are a few cheaper seats than the total party.

Quick background: No airline charges the same price for every seat on a plane, and I'm not just talking about the differences between first class, business class and economy. There are actually about 10 different price points on each flight in coach, and at any given moment (based on historical flight booking patterns) you might get a different price for a smaller group of passengers.

Example: You decide to book your 5 seats on a flight that only has two tickets left at the lowest price of $200. But you don't know there are only two left because most airline sites won't tell you. The next price point is $300 per seat. If you book all 5 tickets in a single transaction, you'll pay $300 for all your seats, because the reservation system won't split it up. If you shop one passenger at a time, you will get those 2 seats at the cheaper price of $200, then pay the higher price for the remaining 3 seats only. See? Use the two-step shopping method and save a couple of hundred bucks.

This happens more often than you might think â?? especially if you shop for flights early - because this is when airlines are probing to see if demand for a given flight matches past history. If not, they may dole out a few of the cheaper price points. Find out for sure by using the one-passenger-at-a-time method. As I always say, don't pay more than you have to.

FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney is an airline industry insider and top media air travel resource. Follow Rick (@rickseaney) and never overpay for airfare again.